46. June
Iwake up to the sound of loud knocking. I’m groggy—either from sleep, or I’m still drunk. My head is pounding, and it feels like I swallowed a desert. Winston barks, which only makes my headache worse. I left my phone in the kitchen, so I have no idea what time it is, but my body is telling me it’s the middle of the night.
I get out of bed in a rush and stride to the living room. I’m going to kill whoever is at my door. In hindsight, whoever is knocking at this hour must either be having an emergency or have bad intentions. None of those thoughts are clear in my throbbing, cotton-candy-filled brain.
“Peaches.... let me in, please,” Ryan says in a ragged voice, making my heart lurch.
Jesus. Why didn’t I think it could be him? Blame the alcohol and lack of sleep.
I open the door and find Ryan leaning against the frame. He’s wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, which means he went out. He canceled on me last minute to go somewhere, and that makes me beyond angry. Maybe I’d have controlled my emotions better if I wasn’t so damn irritated already for getting woken up in the middle of the night.
“Where have you been?”
“To a bar... or a few. I don’t remember.”
“And you drove?” My voice rises in pitch, making him wince.
“I’m a very good driver.” He leans forward. “Are you going to let me in?”
“I’m not sure yet. Why are you here?”
His lips curl into a crooked smile. “Because I missed you.”
I know I shouldn’t take the words of a drunk seriously, but my heart melts a little. Winston tries to escape, so I need to either let Ryan in or shut the door in his face. I bend over to grab Winston’s collar so he won’t take off, and open the door wider.
“You can come in for a little bit.”
“Aww, only a little bit?” He shuts the door, then wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. “Didn’t you hear me when I said I missed you?”
I smell whiskey on his breath. It’s not unpleasant, but I’m still annoyed and hurt over what he did, so I push him off me.
“I heard you, but I’m not super happy with you right now.”
His brows shoot up. “Why not? Oh, is it because I didn’t watch the game with you?”
I cross my arms. “No. It’s because you waited until the last minute to cancel on me.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not very good with appointments.” He staggers into the living room and collapses on the couch.
What kind of lame-ass, half-baked excuse is that? I can’t even bring myself to say so, because it wouldn’t register. “What are you doing?”
“Resting.”
“Go to your apartment and your satin sheets then.”
“In a minute.” He removes his sling, then covers his face with his good arm and, not much later, starts to snore.
My mouth hangs open as I watch him sleep for a couple beats. I’m so angry, I could throw a glass of cold water on his face. But I curl my hands into fists instead and count to ten in my head. The best I can do is to go back to bed and try to get some sleep. Unlike him, I have to wake up early and go to work.
I don’t know where I am at first, but I know I drank way too much last night. My memories are fuzzy, and my mouth tastes like something crawled inside and died. When my blurry vision adjusts, I realize I’m in Mrs. Carpenter’s apartment. I slept on her couch.
Shit. Where’s June?
I sit up too fast and regret it. My head is pounding. One of the cats—I can’t tell if it’s Eros or Apollo—glowers at me from the chair opposite the couch.
“What are you staring at?”
Upon hearing my voice, Winston comes over, wanting to play.
“Not now, boy.” I get up and trudge into the kitchen. The clock on the microwave says it’s past nine. June must be at work already. I look for a note, but I don’t find anything. Maybe she texted me. I pat my pockets, trying to find my phone.
“Hell. Did I lose it last night?”
I return to the couch and find the sucker under the cushions. There’s no text from June either, but there are a few from Jake, Lachy, and my other teammates. We won last night. I reply-all with a generic-as-fuck text, and then I massage my temples, regretting my life choices. I’m not one to lose control like I did last night, but the news I received from my brother ripped the rug from underneath my feet. Alcohol obviously didn’t help. I feel as wretched as before, and now I have a hangover on top of it.
And I fucked up with June. I shouldn’t have canceled on her like I did without giving her any explanation. Even though I’ve already shared so much of my past with her, I couldn’t do it last night. As much as I hate not being with her, it’s better this way. I’ll never be the man she deserves.
June
I could have been vindictive this morning and made a lot of noise to wake up Ryan. But I was no longer angry, just sad that I let myself get attached to him. To be fair, he warned me. It’s my fault for being the dumb chick who thinks a man can change for her.
Jake and Lachy texted me earlier to ask if I watched the game. I lied and said yes, but I really caught only the highlights. They won, and I regretted being too tipsy to pay attention.
I don’t see Katrina until lunch time, and only because she comes to my classroom.
“Why are you avoiding my texts, girlie?”
Resting my forehead in my hand, I groan. “I’ve been avoiding all messages.”
She pulls up a chair. “What’s wrong?”
“I drank too much white wine last night.”
“Oh... with Ryan?”
I wince. “No. He bailed on me.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, fuck he didn’t.”
“And last minute, without any explanation. He was the one who invited me to watch the game at his place.” I shake my head. “I can’t even say I was blindsided. He told me on the night we met he wasn’t Prince Charming.”
“Don’t you dare take responsibility for his douchery.”
“I’m not. But I can’t help feeling stupid for lowering my barriers around him. After he canceled on me, he came over at three in the morning, drunk as a skunk.”
“No. Please tell me you didn’t let him in.”
I drop my gaze to my uneaten sandwich. “I did. I was tired and half drunk. It didn’t do any good. He came in and passed out on the couch. He was still sleeping when I left this morning.”
“You didn’t wake him?”
“No.”
“I’d have thrown a bucket of cold water on his head.”
I crack a smile. “The idea crossed my mind, but then I’d have had to clean up the mess. Plus, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.”
Katrina shrugs. “It’s his loss, baby girl. Don’t forget you still have two hunky players who are very much into you.”
My grin broadens. “That’s true. I can’t wait to see them again.”